More than two months into a conflict that has failed to deliver a decisive military or diplomatic win, President Donald Trump faces the risk that a standoff with Iran will drag on indefinitely and leave an even bigger problem for the U.S. and the world than before he launched the war.
As President Donald Trump claims signs of disarray in Iran's wartime leadership, one key player appears to be accumulating sizable influence ... read more
Elon Musk seems tired and cranky. On Thursday, he took the stand for the third day in a four-week trial stemming from his lawsuit alleging that OpenAI abandoned its mission and should be blocked from taking the company public later this year. If Musk plays his cards right, Sam Altman could be ousted and OpenAI would remain a nonprofit forever. But Musk stumbled at least seven times in ways that possibly put his chances at winning in jeopardy.
Less than half of Republicans said they would pick the passport with President Donald Trump's portrait on it, according to a new YouGov poll. read more
The Justice Department's second attempt to indict former FBI Director James Comey is the latest salvo in what critics call a campaign of retribution on the part of the Trump administration since Donald Trump returned to the presidency in 2025. Administration officials have insisted that any such actions are, as Vice President JD Vance said, "driven by law and not by politics." But they come after Trump vowed during his presidential campaign that he would seek retribution if reelected.
US to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany in next 6-12 months, fulfilling Trump's threat
www.newsnationnow.com
... The United States will withdraw about 5,000 troops from Germany in the next six to 12 months, the Pentagon said Friday, fulfilling President Donald Trump's threat as he clashes with the German leader over the U.S. war with Iran.
Trump had threatened to withdraw some troops from the NATO ally earlier this week after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the U.S. was being "humiliated" by the Iranian leadership and criticized Washington's lack of strategy in the war.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that the "decision follows a thorough review of the Department's force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground."
Germany hosts several U.S. military facilities, including the headquarters of its European and Africa commands, Ramstein Air Base and a medical center in Landstuhl, where casualties from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were treated. U.S. nuclear missiles are also stationed in the country.
The number of troops leaving Germany would be 14% of the 36,000 American service members stationed there.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called it "foreseeable" that the U.S. would withdraw troops from Europe and Germany, while he sought to stress mutual benefit from the U.S. military presence on the European continent.
"The presence of American soldiers in Europe, and especially in Germany, is in our interest and in the interest of the U.S.," Pistorius told the German news agency dpa, while adding that European allies needed to adjust their defense postures -- and were doing so. ...
@#1 ... MAGAocracy.
Happy 250th. ...
Yeah, that seems to be quite apropos of late.
Denying the right to vote of those whose political opinions may not align with that of MAGA.
Why do Republicans seem to be so focused upon denying the voting ability of those valid voters they disagree with?
U.S. Appeals Court Strikes Down North Carolina's Voter ID Law (2016)
www.npr.org
...The appeals court noted that the North Carolina Legislature "requested data on the use, by race, of a number of voting practices" -- then, data in hand, "enacted legislation that restricted voting and registration in five different ways, all of which disproportionately affected African Americans."[emphasis mine]
The changes to the voting process "target African Americans with almost surgical precision," the circuit court wrote, and "impose cures for problems that did not exist."
The appeals court suggested that the motivation was fundamentally political -- a Republican legislature attempting to secure its power by blocking votes from a population likely to vote for Democrats....
@#13 ... Were you here when SCOTUS judges were targeted? ...
Specifics needed.
And, while you are looking up those specifics, please allow me to also add these specifics ...
The Judiciary Is Under Attack
www.americanbar.org
... At a Federalist Society event in late 2025, former Department of Justice (DOJ) Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle argued that Congress should impeach federal judges who found the president's policies unlawful. "This [opposition] is a problem of leftist politics" and not the law, he claimed. Adam Lynch, Trump AG Ally "Turns Heads" at Conservative Legal Conference with New Power Grab Ploy, AlterNet (Nov. 7, 2025). His comments came the same week that two senators and one House member demanded the impeachment of D.C. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg, who has presided over high-profile litigation surrounding the administration's immigration policies, and the same month that a Texas congressman filed articles of impeachment against him. Press Release, Eric Schmitt, US Sen. for Mo., Senator Schmitt Leads Colleagues in Calling for the Suspension, Impeachment of Judge Boasberg (Nov. 17, 2025); Press Release, Brandon Gill, Congressman, TX, Rep. Gill Files Impeachment Articles Against Judge Boasberg Following Arctic Frost Scandal (Nov. 4, 2025). These stories barely made the news.
Just a few years ago, both media and most elected officials would have decried these attacks on a coequal branch of government as unprecedented and dangerous. Now, they are the new norm. ...
@#4 ... Vlad hasn't trained/conditioned Old Yeller to be a challenging perimeter patroller. What alpha Vlad wanted was a a beta lapdog, and that's what he got. ...
Didn't Pres Putin once say something along the lines of .... that he would destroy the United States from within?